Desk calendar and lighter



Sept. 26, 1961 F. F. s. SIEVE 3,001,307

DESK CALENDAR AND LIGHTER Original Filed April 29, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1HWI HIHHIi p 1961 F. F. s. slEv 3,001,307

DESK CALENDAR AND LIGHTER Original Filed April 29, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR 3,001,307 DESK CALENDAR AND LIGHTER Fredda F. S. Sieve, 450 E.63rd St., New York 21, N.Y. Continuation of application Ser. No.809,849, Apr. 29, 1959. This application Mar. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 94,9443 Claims. (ill. 40-407) This invention relates to a desk lighter in theform of a dodecahedron. Of the twelve surfaces of the dodecahedron, one,the top, contains the lighter and the other eleven contains either themonths of the year or the signs of the zodiac. The bottom surface has areversible insert to that the twelfth month or sign of the zodiac canappear on the reverse side.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a dodecahedron desklighter which will incorporated features of a lighter and a deskcalendar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a desk lighter in theshape of a dodecahedron in which the surfaces of the dodecahedroncontain the months of the year or the signs of the zodiac, the top andbottom surfaces of the dodecahedron being open so that a lighter and areversible bottom insert can be inserted therein, the reversible bottominsert containing a different month of the year or sign of the zodiac oneach side.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dodecahedron desklighter and calendar in which five of the first six months of the yearappear on one half of the dodecahedron and five of the latter six monthson the other half of the dodecahedron, the additional two monthsappearing on each side of a reversible bottom insert and a lighter beingmounted on the top, whereby the desk lighter and calendar may be used asa lighter and dates for five of the first six months may be read withthe lighter on top without turning the calendar over and dates for fiveof the last six months may likewise be read with the lighter on topwithout turning the calendar over by reversing the position of thelighter and the reversible bottom insert.

Another object of the invention is to simplify the manufactur'e of adodecahedron desk lighter and calendar by providing a dodecahedron whichcan be made in two parts of plastic material and the two parts cementedtogether to provide a complete regular dodecahedron with twelve regularpentagonal sides, having separate inserts for the lighter and for -areversible bottom piece.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hollow dodecahedron desklighter and calendar with weighting material on the inside thereofwhereby the lighter will remain in whatever position it may be placeddue to the flat side it rests upon and due to the weighting material.

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thisdescription proceeds.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred form ofembodiment of my invention,

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the desk lighter and calendar showingthe lighter at the top and various months of the year on the othersurfaces of the dodecahedron;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded side view of the various components ofthe desk lighter and calendar showing the lighter insert, the spacinggasket, the dodecahedron having the top and bottom surfaces cut away andthe reversible bottom insert;

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of one side of the reversible bottominsert;

FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of the opposite side of the reversiblebottom insert from that shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of the desk lighter and calendar showingthe lighter at the top and the various zodiac signs of the months of theyear on the other surfaces of the dodecahedron.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the dodecahedron desk lighter andcalendar has the lighter I inserted into the top thereof, the body 2 ofthe lighter having a dodecahedron shape with twelve faces each in theshape of a regular pentagon. The lighter 1 is mounted in the top 15 ofthe body 2 by means of a pentagon-shaped spacing gasket 3 having anopening 24 the diameter of the lighter 1. A reversible bottom insert 4is mounted on the bottom 16 of the body 2. Of the five side surfaces inthe top half of the dodecahedron body 2, surfaces 5, 6 and 7 are shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 and 8 and 9 are invisible. On each of these fivesurfaces is applied a month of the year, such as January to May,February to June, etc. Of the five side surfaces on the bottom half ofthe dodecahedron body 2, surfaces 10 and 11 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2and surfaces 12, 13 and '14 are invisible. On each of these fivesurfaces is likewise molded a month of the year, so that the top half ofthe dodecahedron body 2 contains five months of the year and the bottomhalf of the dodecahedron body 2 contains five months of the year.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the months of the year are portrayed in consecutiveorder; the months, however, can be in any order, such as random,consecutive on a calendar year basis, consecutive on a fiscal yearbasis, etc. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the zodiac signs of themonths of the year can be utilized in place of the calendar months ofthe year. The order of months on the five side surfaces on the top halfand five side surfaces on the bottom half of the dodecahedron body 2 canbe consecutive, i.e. from January to October. The remaining two monthsof the year, 22 and 23, are molded on each side of the reversible bottominsert 4 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The dodecahedron body 2 isreversible so that when in use the lighter and calendar are assembledordinarily in position so that the months of the current half of theyear are at the top of the dodecahedron body 2 with the exception of theone month on the bottom. By this arrangement any month except the one onthe bottom in the first halfof the year may be read conveniently withthe lighter 1 on top by merely turning the desk lighter and calendar tothe proper position, and as illustrated in FIG. 1 it is possible to readtwo consecutive months of the calendar from the side view. By turningthe dodecahedron body 2 over so that the months of the first half of theyear are on the bottom and reversing the reversible bottom insert 4 andlighter 1, any month in the second half of the year, except the one onthe bottom, may be read conveniently by merely turning the calendar tothe proper position while the lighter 1 still remains in usable positionon the top of the dodecahedron.

Each face of the dodecahedron body 2 is composed of a regular pentagonand the body is produced by a plastic molding operation in which sides 5to 9 as indicated in FIG. 1 are molded in one integral piece andsimilarly sides 10 to 14 are molded in one integral piece with acalendar of one month of the year molded in each of the ten sides, sothat when the two halves of the body are brought together and cementedor otherwise secured a regular dodecahedron is produced from the twoparts of plastic molded material as described in greater detail in myPatent No. 2,797,512.

Before or after securing the two parts together a shiftable weightingmaterial, which may be sand, shot, liquid or any other desired weightingmaterial, is preferably placed in a container inside one half of themolded body. After the two halves of the dodecahedron body 2 have beensecured together the shiftable weighting material will shift to thebottom half of the body as the position of the desk lighter and calendaris changed to give it the necessary weight to maintain it in position.If desired, a weighting material may be permanently secured in the topand bottom halves of the calendar and the shiftable weighting materialomitted.

The edges of the meeting halves of the molded plastic material arepreferably bevelled so as to provide a wider joining surface tofacilitate cementing or otherwise securing the two halves of thecalendar together and to provide a wider meeting face for the two halveswhile they are being assembled together. Any suitable adhesive such as athermosetting or thermoplastic resin may be used to secure the twohalves of the dodecahedron body 2 or they may be secured by heat andpressure without an additional adhesive if the plastic material is ofsuch a nature that it may be fused together by heat and pressure.

The lighter 1 is a conventional lighter having a body 18 the samediameter as the opening 24 in gasket 3 and smaller in diameter than thepentagon surface of the dodecahedron body 2. This lighter has a rim 17in greater diameter than the body 18 and conventional striker arm 19actuating a revolving knurled wheel which strikes a spark from a flintin the direction of the wick which is exposed at the stroke of thestriker arm 19 by the elevation of the snufier 20.

The gasket 3 is made from a more flexible plastic material than is thebody 2 in order to adjust for small variations in the diameter of thebodies of the lighters and small variations in the openings and 16 ofthe dodecahedron.

The lighter 1 and gasket 3 can be attached to either the top opening 15or bottom opening 16 of the dodecahedron body 2 and can be held in placeby any conventional means, preferably a press fit. I have found that ifthe openings 15 and 16 are very slightly smaller than the diameter ofthe lighter body 18, there is sufiicient expansion of the plasticmaterial and the lighter is held in place by friction alone. Since it ispossible to allow the lighter to remain permanently in place in eitherof openings 15 or 16 at the inconvenience of picking up and reversingthe desk lighter and calendar to read the months on the bottom half ofthe dodecahedron body 2, the lighter 1 and gasket 3 may be permanentlysecured in place by any of the adhesives mentioned above.

The reversible bottom insert 4 is molded with flanges 21 on bothsurfaces of the insert. These flanges 21 are narrow and of suflicientsize to justfit into openings 15 and 16 and to be held therein byfriction. The flange opposite that inserted in the openings 15 or 16acts as a footing for the dodecahedron desk lighter. This reversiblebottom insert is molded from the same flexible plastic material as usedin the gasket 3.

Conveniently, the dodecahedron body 2 may be molded of polystyrene andthe gasket 3 and reversible bottom insert 4 may be molded ofpolyethylene.

The surfaces 59, 10-14 and reversible surfaces 22 and 23 may have moldedtherein or imprinted thereon either the twelve months of the year or thetwelve signs of the zodiac with surfaces 59 and 10-14 containingconsecutive months or signs. At the convenience of the user, fiscalyears rather than calendar years may be shown on the calendar surfaces.In addition advertising material may likewise be molded or imprinted onthe surfaces of the dodecahedron body 2 and reversible bottom insert 4.

While I have described a specific form of embodiment of my invention, itwill be understood that various modifications and changes may be madetherein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scopeof 4 the following claims.

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 809,849,filed April 29, 1959, now abandoned.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a regular dodecahedron lighter base anddesk calendar having a top surface with an opening therein, an adapterin said opening to hold a lighter, the eleven remaining sides havingfive months of the year on the top half thereof, five months of theyearon the bottom half thereof and a reversible insert on the bottom surfacehaving one of the remaining months on one side and the other remainingmonth on the other side, said adapter and said reversible insert beinginterchangeable.

2. The dodecahedron lighter base and desk calendar of claim 1, whereinthe months of the year are represented by calendar months.

3. The dodecahedron lighter base and desk calendar of claim 1, whereinsaid months of the year are represented by zodiac months.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSFOREIGN PATENTS 423,771 France Feb. 24, 1911

